flylady, mm, or something else?

[wallabi]

Okay, reading through here it sounds like some of you follow flylady, some of you do this motivated moms thing, and others of you have your very own cleaning schedule (a feat beyond my abilities!). I was wondering what else might be out there, cleaning house system wise, or, if there`s not much (I am not sure where to even begin looking), why you chose/what you like about the system you are using.

trying to figure out where to start, a task hampered by the rainy season here which is causing everything to mold and making the house feel HORRID, so any and all input appreciated!

sara

[laurabfig]

I've tried flylady and motivated moms, but both of them are too structured for me/our family because i work outside the home 30 hours a week. For the past few months, we've been doing family cleaning night on Mondays. The kids helped me write down the weekly chores onto strips of paper, that we keep in a jar in the kitchen. (things like "clean toilet", "clean sink", "sweep porch", "dust shelves in living room" etc.) On Monday nights, each kid draws a chore out of the jar, and then does it- till all the chores are done. My husband and I focus our energies on the deep cleaning while the kids are doing the weekly chores- we do one week downstairs, one week upstairs for the more thorough cleaning.
Anyway, this has worked well for our family for the past few months. I do still want to "declutter" more, but with a husband who always wants to save things, that is REALLY difficult to do- so I'm trying to let things go and just enjoy life a bit- even though my house isn't perfectly how I want it to be.

[Comtessa]

Feeling a lot of solidarity here with Laura and her DH who likes to save stuff... We're in the same boat.

I looked at Flylady but it seemed way too rigid for me. But Motivated Moms has been really, really wonderful for me. You might find other "systems" at a bookstore in their home section. But I can't say enough good things about MM. Here's what I love about it:
- there are enough different kinds of tasks every day that I don't get bored - I'm always sort of excited about my project for tomorrow
- there are tasks on the list that I'd never think to put on a to-do list on my own (i.e., wash the walls, or clean out my purse) but I love having them done
- there's room to add your own items too (e.g., with a toddler, I have to vacuum the floor under the dining room table every day, not just once a week like the list indicates, so I made it a daily task and assigned it to DH )
- you print it on paper, so you don't have to check online for your tasks. For me, the Internet sucks up time in a baaaaad way, so I love being able to do my chores first thing in the day BEFORE logging on. Plus, having it on paper means you get the satisfaction of physically checking off each task when it's done. LOVE that!
- there's a lot of proactive cleaning - you're encouraged to do a tiny bit of deep cleaning every day so you never have to do those massive housecleaning projects. (Clean the whole fridge? Not a chance. Clean only the top shelf? Yeah, ok, how hard can it be? Etc.)
- it keeps me from wandering the house trying to figure out what the most important jobs are. And making to-do lists, ad nauseum. And, it forces me to stop when I'm done - no OCD cleaning allowed - and focus on my munchkin.
- things like "exercise" and "read to the children" and "quiet time" are built in as daily tasks. Very freeing.
- ETA: oh! One other thing that I love. When people come over, I don't have to stress out about cleaning to get the house ready - it's already clean!

[praisehimau]

I'd tried both without success. Too rigid. I would also like to have something I could use online instead of a book.
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[astrophe27]

I like this:

http://www.lets-clean-up.com/

I liked Motivated Moms better than Fly Lady but I like how over time Let's Clean Up adapts to my house's needs/schedules/frequency.

A.

[sunshineafterrain]

What has helped me most was getting rid of stuff

I think as things become less jam-packed, they are easier to clean- and it just looks cleaner -even if it might not be
It also really frees up your mind...all that stuff burdens you even if you don't think you are aware of it

So, books like Clutter's Last Stand, It's All Too Much, Sink Reflections and blogs like... the zen habits Also, shows like Hoarders and Clean Sweep have helped me the most~ and coming here to this forum has helped me immensely

So, the philosophies and drawing ideas from lots of places help me most with getting rid of clutter- rather than a set program, is I guess what I am saying

[Savoir Faire]

I made my own version between FL and MM. I like how FL has "zones," but some of her detailed cleaning lists are crazy. I enjoyed looking at the samples for MM, but I really have no desires to clean my walls!

So...I took the basics of what needed to be in each FL zone and broke it down by day. Now it seems so easy!

Here's this week and next week:

(This week's zone is my kids bedroom, their bathroom plus the half bath downstairs)

Sunday: Laundry
Monday: Change kid sheets, clean daughter's dresser top, vacuum kid rooms
Tuesday: Empty all trash, do laundry
Wednesday: clean downstairs toilet, sink and mirror
Thursday: Laundry and refill toilet papers
Friday: Clean upstairs sink, toilet and mirror
Saturday: Nothing

Next week's zone is master bed and bath)

Sunday: Laundry
Monday: Dust my dresser and the headboard
Tuesday: Laundry, empty trash, spend 15 minutes cleaning the bedroom
Wednesday: Sweep bathroom, clean tub and toilet
Thursday: Laundry, refill toilet paper, wash makeup brushes
Friday: Clean upstairs sink, clean counter, clean mirror.

Tuesdays are supposed to be big cleaning days...but I just try to be mindful of doing the best I can.

Every day, the daily chores are:

Sweep kitchen/dining room
Clean counters in kitchen
Wipe down table
15 minute tidy
Make my bed

So far, this has worked for me. It has really helped to break all these HUGE things down into small segments for me. I can see the two things needed and say, "I can do this!" Usually it is all done before 10am.

[treeoflife3]

I made up my own schedule. I rarely stick to it but it helped me prioritize and I can usually get the most important things done with ease.

I started out by writing out everything that needs to be done around the house be it daily, weekly, monthy, or yearly. I then clumped everything into groups based on how often (for me, I have a few things that are EVERY day, most things are at least 2-3 times a week, one or two that is weekly, and one thing that is monthly)

once I knew what I wanted to get done and the minimum amount of times I had to do it in a time period, I then wrote out a basic weekly schedule for what I do. For me, I am a stay at home mom so my schedule revolves around my daughter's sleep and eat and play schedules mainly. I ignored random stuff that isn't consistent for the time being (like how I see friends, but that isn't consistent)

once I had the basic schedule for each day of the week I took the chores I had listed and organized by time and fit them in. For me, I have things like 'start a load of laundry' right after breakfast and 'sweep floors' during naptime... that kind of thing. I tried to only keep the bare minimum for when things need to get done so this also means that the litter box being cleaned is only on there 3 times a week... seems like too little for many people but I have just one cat who doesn't care about the box. With it down minimum, I don't stress about how often I get it done because at least I've planned for it a bit.

I then made sure I had some blank time during the day that had no chores or required routines... just space that I can fill with park trips or shopping trips or whatever might amuse me enough to do

All of my things that aren't every single day I tried to put on just naptime. None of my days takes more than 20 minutes usually so I still have time to relax This also allows me to be flexible.. if I just couldn't get to them during naptime, there is always the empty space I left as well as the next time it is scheduled or during the empty space the next day. I don't need to worry because it will come up again and I've planned ahead for time to fill with things I couldn't do before... this is especially useful if I'm out all day for a couple days and couldn't do anything... I can just take a couple days doing a few things each day in the empty space.

I like my own method more because it only includes the things that are relevant to me. I don't give a rats butt if my sink SHINES and I don't care about cleaning walls... if they get dirty, I usually wash just that spot when it happens. I'm not generally concerned about dust on the baseboards because its such a small area and most are hidden anyway... I only have things I actually feel are necessary which also helps me not stress about NOT doing things other people do and maybe not being clean enough.

I also like it because I've already planned ahead for days where I can't do something or where I'm just plain too lazy to be bothered. I know it will get done soon and the world won't implode. and my house won't be a disaster. Moreover, if I do do everything on my list, I still have blank time where I can do extra things... like the litter box more often since I'd really like it done every day but I don't want to over extend myself. There is just no stress because I've made time for whatever I need... even if sometimes what I need is to veg out

[MyLittleWarrior]

I've used both, and right now I'm using FlyLady. I'm certainly not perfect, and I'm just going on anything that I do is more than I would have done before, progress is progress. I've also taken the flylady routines and missions and put them into a weekly checklist very much like MM, so it's kind of the best of both worlds. I do like having a hard copy on my fridge to physically check off.

[wallabi]

wow, I am really impressed with those of you have made your own schedules. see, somehow I lack the knowledge of what should be done, so I never have any faith in my own lists - I am too sure that I will be forgetting something!

I am giving the MM thing a try - I was needing a day planner anyhow, and the price dropped to $4, so we`ll see how it goes. fingers crossed that it will do the trick.

[treeoflife3]

Originally Posted by wallabi

wow, I am really impressed with those of you have made your own schedules. see, somehow I lack the knowledge of what should be done, so I never have any faith in my own lists - I am too sure that I will be forgetting something!

I am giving the MM thing a try - I was needing a day planner anyhow, and the price dropped to $4, so we`ll see how it goes. fingers crossed that it will do the trick.

yeah, I was stressed at first about getting EVERYTHING but I just figured that if I missed something important, I could find a way to add it in.

[Juvysen]

[wombatclay]

I like MM... I gave it a try with one of the threads here (the mm slacker one week catch-up thread ) and really liked it!

I've customized it a bit and instead of printing it I write the day's tasks on a dry erase board on my fridge... I cross them off as I go, then wipe the board for the next day. I like that the MM system has a built in "enough". You clean on drawer, on shelf, one whatever and then you stop! When I tried flylady it was just too much, I was never "done". But with MM I do whatever it is and that's it.

I also like how self care is built in... vitamins, exercise, hobbies, crafts, pampering, reading, etc are given equal weight with everything else. Those are the things I kept leaving off the to-do list or pushing down to the bottom of every list. Having the external validation of seeing them on my to-do list helps.

For books, I really enjoy Spiritual Housecleaning. It's wonderful!

[urchin_grey]

I am doing MM and I love it. I'm the kind of person that NEEDS structure when it comes to cleaning though. I NEED someone to tell me what to do! Otherwise, I'm standing in the middle of a disaster area, completely overwhelmed and not knowing where to start.

That being said, I also tried FL and she was TOO much. Not only did she tell you exactly what to do, she told you how. LOL For instance, I am not getting dressed up and wearing "lace up shoes" in my house. For one, shoes don't belong on my feet in the house, and two, its hot as hell in LA in the summer, I'm wearing a tank and undies, TYVM.

[EdnaMarie]

I like FL in theory, but I don't do anywhere near the work she says. I just like her whole theoretical basis, and build my own routines based on that. I don't think FL has kids... so in a way it can be discouraging. "Just take 15 minutes..."

Okay, so I'll be starting when the kids are in kindy, then?!?

But I do take five minutes

[Beauchamp]

Even reading Flylady's website is overwhelming to me. I have a 13mo, so I'm thinking of trying MM.

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

I like FL in theory, but I don't do anywhere near the work she says. I just like her whole theoretical basis, and build my own routines based on that. I don't think FL has kids... so in a way it can be discouraging. "Just take 15 minutes..."

Okay, so I'll be starting when the kids are in kindy, then?!?

But I do take five minutes

She has an adult son. He was already an adult before she started the email list.

[Hopefulmama]

Just finished first week of MM and I LOVE IT. I have a 2 and 4 year old. I feel like it's the first time I've been on top of things around the house for a LONG time.

[wombatclay]

I think that's the bit I appreciate about MM... I have a 5yo, a 3yo with special needs, and an 11mo. The MM tasks are so small/defined I can always do at least 1 or 2 of them. And then they are done! If I was on my own (or doing flylady) I'd be focused on how much I "didn't do"... like, I'd tell myself "clean the fridge" and then feel bad that I only did one shelf. But with MM the task is one shelf and if I manage to clean a second shelf too I feel like I'm actually ahead of the game! The same amount gets done, but I feel better about it if that makes sense?